MY PHOBIA FOR DOGS

     As a child, I have this great fear for dogs. I can never stay in the same place or walk on the same path with dogs. I don't like them, they don't like me either. My father decided to buy a dog, although then it was still a puppy. I love puppies though because of their cuteness. When this dog grew, I hardly walk around my own house . In the night, if I want to take something outside, I must call my brother to go with me because he flows better with dogs. I disturbed him occasionally to the extent that he became tired of me and decided not to go with me any more. Me on the other hand stopped going out at night. Even though I desperately need that item, I would wait till the next morning. It was so bad that my parents couldn't help but to always shout whenever I am inside the house.
    
       How my fear for dogs started could be linked to an event that happened during my early childhood days, an event that whenever I remember it I just have to laugh at myself.
     It was one faithful Saturday morning at exactly 6:30 am,  my mummy sent me on an errand to get something for her from one of her friends house,it was quite early in the morning,the day was bright,quite a small number of people where seen outside I was still on my nighty and it didn't occur to me to change before going where I was sent to. I was so happy to go out so as to miss some house chores maybe that was why i forgot to change my nighty to something else.  I can bet that have all done that before; skipping house chores .lol

       You need to see me, on that day, I was so happy just because my mummy chose me to go on an errand for her. I dashed off immediately before she will change her mind. I ran to the house which was actually miles away from my house.

        On getting to their gate, it occurred to me that they have a dog , a mischievous one for that matter and their is a probability that it will be unchained. I pressed their door bell, no one answered. I knocked hard on on the gate, still no response. I had to use stone and hit the gate. Immediately the dog heard the continuous banging on the gate, it started barking continuously. My heart started beating faster, for who, just for a dog. You can imagine!  A voice from inside said;

       " come in, the gate is open ".  This time around nothing was heard again. I raised my  tiny voice and replied;
" I can't come Inside, the dog is in front of the gate waiting for me". I paused to get a reply but no response. I waited for some minutes before the woman came out and opened the gate.

        " good morning ma" I greeted her without looking at her face, my focus was on the dog. I was really scared, it was as if the ground should open and swallow me. The way the dog was gazing at me like a thief made me more scared.  I entered the gate, the woman shouted at the dog to go in,the dog politely did. I was relieved a bit.

      !"Nne! Don't mind that dog , she can be mischievous at times. So you can be scared of this little dog that can't even harm a fly."  She said in a hilarious way and we both laughed together. She continued;  " next time just come inside without fear because if she senses fear in you, she would want to scare you the more."

    " okay ma! Thank you" . I responded even though I wasn't really paying attention to her. My aim was to take what I came for and leave as soon as possible before the dog comes after me.

      After given me the item I came to get, I  was happy that she has ended her speech; she can really talk for the world; she is ready to talk and forgets that I came to get something not for discussion.

      I stepped out of the gate, and I started running in order to pass the premises. I was really running. Immediately I sensed something strange was happening at my back. I turned back,   lo and behold, the dog too was running. It was chasing after me not running. It was that day I knew that I could run. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, as I was running I was shouting;"my mummy! My daddy! My mummy! My daddy!" I couldn't say anything other than; " my mummy! My daddy!". I thought I was running fast, not knowing that this dog can even run more than me, even faster than a hyena.

      I was about to take another step forward before this dog jumped on my back, grabbed my cloth and tore it. Hmmn! I didn't even look back, I left the cloth with the dog; no one could even help me because it was quite early though. Upon the dog has left me, with my cloth. Thank God I wore something though ,but I was quite small then.

      The speed at which I ran inside, breathing out of control left everyone wondering what could have happened to me. I couldn't talk at that time because I was still trying to catch my breath.   They were all looking at me, waiting for me to start explaining what happened yo my cloth and why I ran inside the house as if a ghost was chasing me.

       When I tried to catch my breath, I was pointing at the direction of the house, trying to know if the will grab, but they were all looking lost. My mummy on the other hand was loosing her patience and said; " can you start talking and stop putting fears in everyone; what happened? "

        She asked me, waiting for a quick response. In my mind I was like , if I tell them what happened, the next thing the might say is; " so you are running away from dog. That is why you are breathing this way and running like you saw a ghost". I managed to catch my breath and  started talking, telling them how it started and what brought me to that state. After telling them the whole story, what I thought they would say wasn't what they said. They were all pitying me and they  asked me to go in  and have a hot bath. My mum had to check to know if I was scratch or bitten by the dog. Love of a mother!

     Since that incidence,I hated dogs and no event can even bring us together. I hardly visit  that house ever since then. Whenever I am passing or going somewhere and I accidentally see a dog along my route, I would rather take a route that is farther from that my normal route.

    Dogs became my fear. They stopped me from doing stuffs I love doing. I can't visit people I want to visit , talk less of going out. They were like my obstacle. This story can be seen in another angle with deeper meaning. With time, I started letting the fear out and facing it at the same time. Yes! I started facing these fiercely looking creatures. And today, I can even dine and wine with them. If they bark at me, I will bark back at time. There is nothing to loose.

    We all have that something that puts fear in us, that something that we really fear that stops us from doing what we like. Each time we want to do those things that we love doing, but because of the fear we feel within, we would rather leave that stuff and look for another alternative.

      I want you to think deeply and look for that thing that you fear the most, some people fear crowd, they can't face crowd, some height, some speaking, some they can't walk alone, while some is fear of being rejected. Figure that fear out and deal with it, believe me once you address that fear. It will become nothing to you. You know what FEAR means? It simply means; False Evidence Appearing Real. Everything we fear are false which appears to be real. The only person we have to fear is God, he is the ultimate.

******  Lastly, Be Bold, Brave and confident***** . Thanks for reading.